Rise of the Devourer
by TheUnknownAuthor-N
Summary: Not good with Summary's so bear with me. Mephiles is an ancient being who was sealed away long ago. When he returns Nick and Dawn must travel to a new world and team up with new allies...can they stop him before its too late?
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Rise of the Devourer: Side Note: I started the story with my own characters, with not a lot of reference to the actual Sonic Universe, I've changed around Mephiles a bit and it jumps around a bit I know but please tell me what you think, I plan to do a bit more on it!**

"_Take my amulet, whenever you are scared…place your hand upon it and remember that I will always be with you…it falls upon you now my son…you have to protect your sister Nick, you have to keep her safe…if she falls into it's hands, the world is doomed…you must do this…you cannot fail…find…Lorzen." _Those had been my Mother's dying words to me as I carried my younger sister Dawn from our burning house, we were only young when our village was burned to the ground, I remember running down the deserted streets carrying her and covering her eyes while I ran past the men and women of our village lying motionless on the ground, as I looked around for anyone else I saw a creature, engulfed in a cloak of black shadows its blood red eyes glowing as it set fire to the village, I quickly hid with my sister, as we tried to sneak past it quickly spun around and was instantly in front of me, I quickly put myself between it and Dawn, it screeched so loudly that I had to fight every instinct to slam my hands against my ears, then I heard a voice in my head, so dark and devoid of emotion that it sent shivers down my spine,

"_Stand aside child…I have come for her, move and perhaps I will grant you a quick and painless death!" _I was terrified, and the creature knew it, my Mother would have known what to do, she was a powerful wizard and he wouldn't have been afraid…I remembered my Mother's amulet, instinctively putting my hand around it and clenching it tightly, remembering my Mother took the fear away, I quickly picked my sister up and ran as fast as my legs would allow, I looked back to find nothing pursuing, when suddenly I felt a searing pain in my head as my whole body froze, the creature reappeared now moving towards my sister as she tried to get away from it, she was panicking as the creature moved closer, pinning her to the ground, its dark voice sounding almost mocking,

"Now child…you are **MINE!**" the creature began laughing as my Mother's amulet began to glow, the creature hissed, "What sorcery is this?" the amulet suddenly erupted in an explosion of pure light, I regained control of my body and immediately had to shield my eyes from the blast, once the light had gone I ran to Dawn and helped her up, she was still in shock so I picked her up again and began running towards the nearest village, after 4 hours on the road I was exhausted, but kept running, Dawn had fallen asleep in my arms, I could see the city nearby, I kept going as fast as I hours later we were in the city, as we had arrived nearby guards had taken us straight to the castle to speak to the Duke, I stood trying to get my breath back as I described the events that had brought us to the city, the Duke himself listened intently and as I finished he burst into mocking laughter until he looked back at my face,

"You are truly serious? A creature made of shadow destroyed your village? Ha! Next you will tell me it is here!" Almost perfectly on cue a guard ran into the throne room,

"Milord I apologise for the interruption….but something approaches!" the Duke waved us out as he left with the soldiers to investigate, I turned to find Dawn had awoken and was sitting upright, her eyes widened, her voice barely a whisper,

"He's here…..he's still chasing us…" I immediately grabbed her hand and we ran for the city gate, just as we approached our path was blocked by what I assumed to be a man concealed by a hooded robe, his voice was calm, yet seemingly authoritative and I could not help but feel it was familiar.

"You two flee from the shadow creature do you not? The same creature who killed Incanta…or Eleanor as you may know her." Whoever this man was he knew our mother's name, I turned to Dawn and she nodded slowly,

"Y-Yes…how did you…" he cut me off before I could finish what I was saying, I heard him mutter something under his breath as he put his hands on our shoulders, we were instantly no longer in the city, but high up in the mountains in an old watchtower, the ice cold air hit me almost immediately, the man simply moved to a nearby window and looked out, still sounding perfectly calm and seemingly was not phased by any of this,

"Your mother sent you to find Lorzen…yes?" I nodded and he continued, "I am Lorzen and I will endeavour to keep you safe from the creature, for as long as I draw breath…I will protect you." I tried to get my head around everything, Who was this man? How did he know our mother? Why should we trust him? He seemed to sense my distrust and knelt in front of me,

"I know you have no reason to trust me, but I'm here to help…." I looked him in the eye, his eyes were gold, but I saw no skin, just fur…he quickly stood back up, and he quickly turned around only to be flung into the stone wall, I heard the familiar screeching and turned only to be met with the blood red eyes and shadowy form, now starting to take shape, I stood between Dawn and it as Lorzen dragged himself to his feet, he called to it,

"Demon! Begone from this place! You stand in my domain now!" Lorzen held a white emerald in his hand, the creature seemed afraid of it as Lorzen gripped it tightly and leaped into the air,

"Chaos…..Control!" he then disappeared, then reappeared behind the creature, blasting light through it, causing it to shriek, Dawn and I dropped to our knees covering our ears, when the shrieking stopped we stood up my ears were still ringing as Lorzen grabbed us, "We have to leave…." with that we disappeared once again…..

**Six Years Later**

We had been on the run with Lorzen for six long years, it was my 20th birthday and days after Dawn's 16th we had discovered Lorzen was not…entirely human, he was in fact a 6 foot grey fox, with golden eyes, he wore a simple blue robe with a golden pattern sewn into it, he told us of the creature that chased us it was known as the Shadow of Eternity, Hellshade the Devourer and many other names his most commonly known being Mephiles the Dark. He had trained us in hand to hand combat, as well as a few spells. Mephiles was hot on our tail…and we were running out of places to hide.

Lorzen suddenly appeared, holding a second emerald, his long hooded robes were ripped and I saw blood staining his fur,

"I apologise for taking so long, there were…complications. But I do now have the means to get you two somewhere safe…away from Mephiles…however, it does require me to change your appearance, so you can blend in."Dawn looked at me, she looked unsure I turned back to Lorzen,

"Would Mephiles be able to track us?" Lorzen thought for a moment as he looked around the room, "I can take us high up into the mountains…so that he can't find the portal we'll use. But first…let me make some adjustments…." I nodded and Lorzen focused for a moment before two balls of energy formed in his hands, the energy balls headed towards Dawn and I, upon making contact with me, everything turned to black as I lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2: Making Friends and Enemies

**Let me make a quick note: My only experience with Sonic has been through the games both old and new, and some of the Sonic X cartoon show, so in all honesty I'm a bit short on some of the characters, their behaviour, actions that sort of thing. So any helpful feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks! Also I don't own any of the Sonic characters, just my own!**

_POV: Nick, Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat a bit of Sonic too!_

_Shadow the Hedgehog_

I sped along a grassy meadow while Rouge flew above me, we were on the hunt for a major energy spike that G.U.N had been tracked to this location, I knew it could be a Chaos Emerald so we had left immediately, as we got closer to the source of the reading I slowed down and turned off my rocket boots, Rouge landed next to me looking around then sighing,

"Pretty big meadow, and I don't see any Chaos Emeralds…what the…" As she had been looking around Rouge spotted another hedgehog lying unconscious in the grass, the reading we had received seemed to be strongest around him. I examined further as Rouge commented,

"Kinda looks like you Shadow…different colours obviously but definitely looks like you." I simply glared at Rouge, though she was right, his fur was black like mine, and his quills were certainly shaped like mine, though they were longer and had light blue and yellow streaks through them, he wore simple clothing a white t-shirt under a leather jacket, a pair of blue jeans, I then spotted rocket boots almost identical to my own, I could feel energy levels beyond anything I'd ever encountered coming from him,

"He seems to be the source of the energy spike…maybe he has a Chaos Emerald in his possession…." Rouge looked at me for a moment before sighing,

"Oh fine I'll take a look…" as Rouge searched his pockets I turned and activated my communicator,

"Shadow to GUN headquarters, we've found the source of the energy spike but no sign of a Chaos Emerald…over."

_Nick:_

I awoke lying on grass, I could feel the warmth of the sun shining on my face and a breeze blowing through the grass, I then heard a voice, "Shadow to GUN headquarters, we've found the source of the energy spike but no sign of a Chaos Emerald…over." I kept my eyes closed and kept still, after a few moments I heard a different voice,

"Shadow…this is GUN Command, whatever you found bring it back here for analysis…by any means necessary." I felt someone searching me then heard their voice, whoever they were they were female,

"Shadow….he doesn't have an emerald…oooh what's this?" she gripped my mothers amulet, I instinctively grabbed it and leapt to my feet, only to see a giant white furred bat with a heart shape on her chest, and a black and red hedgehog in a fighting stance, already with a ball of energy in his hand, ready to attack.I stood still, watching them while trying to figure out where I was, the black hedgehog had his gaze fixed on me, while the bat was looking between us, before focusing on me she spoke first,

"Now now…surely you don't want to pick a fight with us do you? Don't you know who this is?" she sounded confident, the black hedgehog hadn't moved his eyes yet,

"I'm Shadow…Shadow the Hedgehog…you will come with us, willingly or not…" I could tell I was outmatched here but I had to find Dawn and Lorzen and find out what was going on….

_Sonic The Hedgehog:_

"Come on Eggman! You already know I'll beat ya! Give it up already!" Eggman had Tails and Knuckles trapped in his latest and "greatest" invention, the Egg Walker, it had a lot of weapons, and it trapped anyone it got hold of inside of it, luckily I'm too fast for it, Eggman stared out at me from the cockpit of his machine,

"I'll get you Sonic! Lock all weapons! FIRE!" the Egg Walker fired all of its missiles, lasers, guns and whatever else it had right at me, by the time they had hit my last position I was already in the air and spinning full speed towards Eggman, he tried to use his machines arms to hit me, but it was too late, I had already smashed through the machines core allowing Knuckles to smash a way out and for he and Tails to jump out, Eggman escaped while shouting back, "Curse you Sonic! I'll get you next time!" Eggman was gone into the distance, Knuckles punched the remains of the Egg Walker, I turned to Tails,

"So how come Eggman showed up anyway? There's no Chaos Emeralds here…in fact…why were you two here?" Tails revealed a tracking device,

"Knuckles and I were tracking a powerful energy signal! It's like nothing I've seen before! We thought it might have been an Emerald, that's when we ran into Eggman!" I looked around before spotting a blonde hedgehog lying in the grass, all three of us immediately ran over, at first I could have sworn she was Amy, she had blonde fur, her quills were combed down, they had a few red streaks through them, some of her hair dropped down and covered her left eye, I turned to Tails and Knuckles, "Come on guys….lets get her somewhere safe!" I picked her up and ran off towards the nearest town, Tails and Knuckles running along side me.

_Shadow the Hedgehog: _

I was chasing the other hedgehog as Rouge flew over him until he suddenly spun around, kicking me in the process, I was stunned for a moment as he swung another punch, I gripped my green Chaos Emerald in one hand, "Chaos Control!" he froze mid swing as I leapt behind him delivering a hard kick to the back of his head, he fell forward immediately pushing himself up and muttering something before a bolt of lightning hit me, I fell back and rolled to my feet, Rouge was still chasing him as he ran away from us, he reached a cliff edge and stopped dead as Rouge and I approached, Rouge extended her hand, "Come on…we're not here to hurt you, we just want to talk…" I could see that he didn't believe us and that he was planning something…

_Nick:_

I had run out of options, I was cornered on a cliff edge with no way around them, I could try going through…I put one hand on my mothers amulet as I pondered, it began to glow until the light blinded me, I shielded my eyes…then I heard my mothers voice in my head,

"_You have a mission Nick…find Dawn and protect her…she needs you." _The light faded, my pursuers were still stunned, I took the opportunity to leap over them and run towards a village I could see in the distance.

**Six Hours Later**

When I eventually got to the village I looked around, there were no humans here, just more giant animals, though they didn't seem suspicious of me, I looked in a nearby window and shock gripped me, I was one of them, I stared for a few moments before shaking it off and continuing my search, realising that Lorzen must have adjusted our appearances to blend in here, I wouldn't know what my sister looked like…as I walked I heard people talking nearby,

"Hey you see Sonic bringing that girl in? Wonder what happened…." A second voice pitched in,

"Well…I heard he found her out in the forest after they thought they'd found a Chaos Emerald…." I remembered my attackers mentioning an emerald of some sort and it was the closest to a lead I had…I approached them cautiously,

"Uhh…excuse me? Can you tell me where he took her? It's my sister you see and I'm worried she's hurt…we're not….from here.." they looked at me curiously for a moment before pointing to a nearby house,

"That's where he lives lad…he'll most likely be there…" I smiled and thanked them as I made my way towards the house, still unsure whether to break in or simply knock…for all I knew Dawn was being held captive. I got to the door and knocked on it, a blue hedgehog answered after a few moments, he smiled, he certainly didn't seem hostile, his posture was relaxed,

"Yeah? Can I help you?" I glanced quickly for any sign of Dawn but I couldn't see her, I looked into the hedgehogs eyes,

"Are you…Sonic? I'm looking for my sister, I heard you brought her here…." he immediately grinned and winked at me,

"Sure thing! Come on in!" he yelled upstairs, "Hey Dawn! Your brothers here!" I entered the house and heard someone running down the stairs as I was met by a blonde hedgehog, both of us were as shocked to see the other, Dawn spoke first,

"Nick? Is that….is that you?" I had no time to speak, she spotted the amulet and wrapped her arms around me tightly, "I'm so glad to see you! I didn't know where I was….Sonic found me and brought me here though! Where were you?" she looked up at me smiling,

"Well…my first few hours here were great…I woke up and immediately was almost taken prisoner and had to run away from a hedgehog and a bat…then…" Sonic interrupted, "Whoa! The hedgehog wasn't black and red was he? If so…I know your guy!" I nodded and Sonic grinned excitedly then continued, "That's Shadow…you got away from him?" I nodded again, Sonic seemed elated for some reason,

"So? What's the big deal about Shadow?" Sonic laughed, but as he went to explain there was a loud smash as Shadow broke through the window and kicked Sonic into the wall, he then started walking towards me,

"I told you….your coming back to GUN headquarters…whether you want to...or not..."


	3. Chapter 3: Fight or Flight

"Well well….what's goin' on Shadow? You lookin' for a rematch?" Shadow leapt up and kicked Sonic down again as I prepared to fight, "Your not going to back off are you…" Shadow started walking towards me cracking his knuckles as I got a spell ready, I fired a wave of ice at him, freezing his feet in place as I ran out back after Dawn, "You have to hide…no matter what happens you stay hidden…I'll find you alright?" She looked hesitant to listen to me, but as Shadow smashed out through the back wall growling and clutching the emerald he had earlier, I remembered seeing him use it before, and Lorzen used one, I had to get rid of it, I fired more spells at him, he dodged and leapt away from them, as he landed I summoned vines to trap him, as they tightened around him he dropped his emerald, I ran over and grabbed it now clutching it in my hand, he eventually broke free of the vines and was growling at me,

"Impressive…you have a mastery over a great power, but I am the Ultimate Life Form! You can't beat me!" he began charging towards me, I thought back remembering both he and Lorzen shouting 'Chaos Control' while holding emeralds, I took a chance,

"Chaos Control!" I didn't quite realise what had happened until moments later, I was on the roof staring down at Shadow, who looked as though he was in disbelief, he charged another Chaos Spear in his hand while I readied a bolt of lightning, we fired at the same time, both projectiles impacted in mid air, I knew I had to get rid of this Shadow, I leapt from the roof, Shadow leapt at the same time, both of us collided in mid air, Shadow leapt backwards off me before spinning into a ball and slamming me down into the ground, my entire body surged with pain as he grabbed the Chaos Emerald from me, I ignored the pain and leapt up, kicking the emerald from Shadow's hand and blasting him with ice, he was completely frozen, I grabbed the Chaos Emerald as I saw Dawn running into the forest, I knew by the time I ran there she'd be hidden and Shadow would be hot on my tail, I looked at the emerald and thought for a moment,

"Chaos Control…" I was suddenly in a forest clearing, Dawn was walking through the forest and spotted me, immediately running over,"How did you…you were fighting with that black hedgehog and…" I heard rustling in a tree above and immediately signalled her to hide, I felt a sudden surge of pain in my head and was forced forward, I turned to find the white bat standing in front of me smiling.

_Rouge the Bat_

I had told the girl to meet me in the forest, I had seen this hedgehog Shadow wanted to catch so bad tell her to hide, so I knew if he beat Shadow he'd chase her, I hid in a tree above the clearing, waiting, I saw the other hedgehog appear holding Shadow's green Chaos Emerald, I then saw the girl run over, I tried to listen in too far and lost my grip quickly having to grab another branch, but I knew he'd heard me, he told her to hide so I jumped to another tree and glided down behind him, delivering one swift kick to the back of his head just to get his attention, I landed behind him and grinned, he spun around ready to attack, he seemed to hesitate when he saw me, I smiled at him,

"So…you beat Shadow, not often I get to see that….I'm Rouge…who are you?" I wasn't showing any hostility, I was still unsure whether we even had reason to bring him to GUN, I'd let him say his piece and judge for myself.

_Nick: _

"Who are you?" she had been the first person who had stopped to actually ask me who I was, I still had no intention of trusting her but having a potential ally wouldn't be a bad thing, "My name…is Nick, me and my sister were brought here from….well I think another world, to escape a creature that was devouring our world…for some reason trying to find my sister. Ever since I got here I've found out I've been completely changed into…whatever I am…some giant hedgehog called Shadow wants me captured or dead…and I cant find our teacher…" I stopped, I had started ranting, Rouge just laughed,

"Oh Shadow? He's following his orders…I'll talk to him. I don't think you're here to cause any trouble. But I think he'll want his emerald back…Anyway…this creature your running from." I could only sigh, I knew this would come up,

"Yes…a creature called Mephiles, Lorzen told us he devours entire worlds, after having been sealed years before I was born…I don't know why he's hunting down Dawn, but I'm not going to let him find her…if necessary I'll give my life to defend her." Rouge looked surprised, she didn't have a chance to reply before Shadow had leapt out of hiding towards me.

_Rouge the Bat:_

Shadow had appeared out of nowhere, he leapt and immediately started attacking Nick who had no choice but to fight back, Shadow jumped up and started a spindash, Nick was prepared however and fired lightning from his hands then leapt up and kicked him into the ground, then stood over him,

"Shadow…I don't want to fight you!" I watched as Shadow stood up again and swung a punch which was deflected, he then fired a Chaos Spear which stunned Nick, Shadow then delivered a hard kick knocking him backwards against a tree, seconds later Shadow spindashed towards him and hit him brutally 4 times before jumping back a Nick fell to his knees, wiping blood from his mouth he grinned and chuckled,

"Is that…all…you've got?" Shadow growled and charged, Nick vanished and appeared behind and laughed again,

"Ultimate Lifeform? I don't see it…" Shadow once again swung a punch now completely engulfed in his rage, Nick easily grabbed his arm and threw him against a tree then delivering several hard hits, before kicking him back down, and walking away. Shadow spit out blood and got to his feet again, Nick turned around again, Shadow lunged…

**3 Hours Later**

It had been 3 long hours since Shadow and Nick started fighting, Sonic had shown up seen the fight and gone back and collected a large group of his friends, I sat next to Dawn as we looked around the scene, the ground was scorched, trees were completely destroyed from the fight, the two jumped towards each other and swung punches, they impacted at the same time, they both flew in opposite directions, impacting hard against trees and landing hard against the ground, both stayed down, exhausted and unable to move. Sonic laughed,

"Wow…those two really ripped each other apart!" both of them started getting up again, not taking eyes off of each other, as they moved to continue their fight, Eggman's battleship flew overhead, I heard Eggman's voice,

"Surrender your Chaos Emeralds! I know you have them Sonic!" Shadow looked to Nick,

"We deal with Eggman first…" Nick nodded as Shadow ran off with Sonic and the others, I stayed and watched him as he caught his breath then walked over to me,

"I thought you'd be off helping them…" I winked at him and grinned,

"Not really my thing…Just thought I'd make sure you were going to stay conscious…" Nick blushed slightly and looked around then became panicked,

"Where's Dawn? …Oh no…" He immediately ran off towards where Sonic and the others had gone, I jumped up and flew after him.

He ran through the meadow, we eventually ended up in the middle of a battle between Sonic, Shadow and the others and a large group of Eggman's robots, Nick pulled me down out of the way of a missile, before I could so much as thank him, he had already smashed three robots to pieces on his way to find Dawn…

_Nick:_

I smashed robots as I met up with both Sonic and Shadow, all three of us fought off the waves of robots, I turned to Sonic,

"Where's Dawn?" Sonic pointed up to the battleship as he destroyed another robot,

"Eggman took Tails…Dawn tried to save him and got trapped…" I looked up to the battleship and saw another wave of robots on their way down, I leapt on top of another robot and jumped up, using the new wave of robots to smash through into the battleship, Sonic and Shadow followed behind, the three of us ripped the robots apart as we ran through the ship, we eventually got to the prison block, where a completely black hedgehog stood holding my sister, he wore a long black trench coat, I could feel nothing but evil from him, he immediately turned and stared at me, his eyes were completely black, I saw no emotion, Shadow and Sonic were thrown backwards, I heard a voice inside my head, immediately I recognised it…Mephiles had found us….

"_You…you intend to try and stop me? You still fear me…you're mother did well to erase your memory of it…but your teacher is not here to save you this time!" _Fear had gripped me, I froze in place as Mephiles shot a bolt of dark energy at me, I was pushed to the side, as I looked I saw the bolt hit Rouge, Shadow and Sonic both spun past me as I pushed my fear to the side and ran towards Mephiles, he dropped Dawn and hit both Sonic and Shadow to the ground as he walked towards me, I gripped the Chaos Emerald tight in my hand,

"I'm not afraid of you anymore Mephiles! Chaos…Control!" I appeared behind him and lunged firing every spell I could at his back before charging and getting as many hits into him as I could before being thrown off….I skidded across the floor before stopping next to Rouge, I heard her laugh weakly,

"He looks tough…You having fun?" She propped herself up against the wall, I could only run at Mephiles again, teleporting behind him again, he immediately had me by the throat above the ground,

"That may work once….but not again…." he threw me against a wall and flew towards me, he started punching, his fists slammed against me at super speed, my entire body surged with pain, every nerve screamed as he slammed one final punch, knocking me down, he turned his back on me and laughed, his almost demonic voice echoed through the corridor,

"This is truly all you have? You shame your family's memory…" That was all it took, anger built up when he dared mention my family, I grabbed the Chaos Emerald, and used every ounce of rage I had to drag myself up and latch onto him,

"Chaos…Control!" We appeared above Eggman's battleship, I grabbed my mothers amulet in my hand, I felt a surge of power as light surrounded me, Mephiles screamed in pain as he struggled to free himself,

"What is this? What power do you have!" he broke free only for the amulet to shoot a beam of light straight through him, as it did he fired a bolt of shadow, I didn't see it hit, I only felt another surge of pain, the light dissipated and Mephiles turned to a cloud of shadow and vanished through a portal, I started falling, the emerald fell from my hand I could taste blood and felt the warm feeling of blood on my body, as I fell I closed my eyes and slipped into the darkness…

I woke up on a cold stone floor light completely surrounded me, I looked down at myself, my injuries were gone, I was still a hedgehog however, I got to my feet and looked around, eventually I heard my mother's voice behind me, her voice was soft and comforting just like it had always been,

"Nick…..don't be afraid." I turned around but she was nowhere to be seen,

"You cant see me…because your not ready yet. You have to be more careful, Mephiles almost got Dawn." I dropped to my knees,

"Am…I dead? Did I die fighting Mephiles?"

"No…but your injuries are severe…you should be dead. The amulet is keeping you alive, as well as your determination to stay alive. The amulet itself contains my power, light magic, its what we sealed Mephiles with before…" I could feel pain returning to me, blood trickled from my mouth,

"Mom…what do you want me to do…I…I cant beat Mephiles again, it almost killed me…I…" My mother appeared in front of me, kneeling down and smiling warmly,

"Son…you're doing fine…but you don't have to do this alone…there are many people in this world to aid you. Lorzen…" I had to interrupt her,

"Lorzen? He's gone! I haven't seen him since we got here! I…I'm sorry I just, Mephiles has been hunting us for six years…Dawn wants a normal life and…I cant…I cant give her it, she calls me over protective, I feel as though I cant let her do anything for fear of him appearing, and I don't even know how to defend her, or what he wants!" my mother just smiled at me and sighed,

"Your old enough to know I suppose…Dawn is the one we had to seal Mephiles' heart in…not a literal physical heart, but essentially…well, his essence, soul whatever you want to call it…that's why he has to devour the souls of the dead and eventually worlds…to keep himself alive." I thought about it for several moments,

"So…we could destroy him if we kept him from 'eating' for long enough?" My mothers face changed, she became very serious, "Nick…that's dangerous and reckless. You'd have to hunt him down, probably in his own realm…and he's more powerful in the Shadow Realm…" I sighed, more pain shot through me, my mother smiled again,

"Do what you think is right Nick…but be careful, remember you don't have to fight him alone…" I felt blood on my body, my injuries started returning as the light around me diminished, everything once again was engulfed in darkness, for what felt like an eternity...


	4. Chapter 4: No Rest for the Wicked

**Chapter 4**

"Mom….wait…Mom!" I jerked up awake in what I thought was a hospital bed, Dawn was sat next to me looking exhausted, my injuries were gone, Dawn grinned when I sat up, I groaned and saw Rouge walk in, she smiled,

"Well well…look who's finally awake." I could only smile as she sat next to Dawn, I saw her injuries were gone,

"Your wounds…your completely healed? How long have I been out?" both Dawn and Rouge lost their smiles, Dawn's voice was barely a whisper,

"Four months and the first month was in question, You slipped in and out…I thought you were gonna die Nick…" I stared at her in disbelief,

"Four...months? I…it cant be…I…Mephiles, what about him? Is he back?" Dawn shook her head,

"No he's vanished, Lorzen said he's gathering his strength…and his forces." I saw Shadow come in, his face showing little emotion,

"Your finally awake then…Good, we're going to need you if Mephiles attacks again…Rouge…can I have a word, in private?" Rouge nodded and left with him, Dawn hugged me,

"I missed you when you were gone Nick…I don't like it when your not there…tell you what, how about I see if we can get you out of here?" before I even had time to argue Dawn was already up and skipping out, Rouge came back in and sat down sighing as she did, she looked at me curiously,

"You talk in your sleep…you know that?" I instantly remembered what I had, 'dreamt' about, I couldn't't tell Rouge about it,

"You watched me sleep? Yeah…that's not creepy at all…" I chuckled uncomfortably, but she saw through my attempt to change the subject,

"Tell you what, if you want to talk about it…im here to listen, but it sounds like it was bugging you. Not being able to protect Dawn…or…your mother." She lowered her head as she said it, I got myself out of bed and stretched,

"Don't know about you but I'm keen to get out of here…feel like it?" Rouge smiled and got up,

"Sure…we'll go get a drink, celebrate you coming back from the dead and all…oh, and a coming back gift…" she handed me a box, when I opened it I saw my mother's amulet, I took it out of the box and put it back on,

"I figured I'd keep it…in case…you know…" she blushed and I hugged her,

"Thanks Rouge…it means a lot that you kept it safe…come on, lets get that drink." We walked around the town, eventually going into a café, I ordered a coffee and sat down with Rouge, I took a sip of coffee and looked over to Rouge, who was playing with her hair,

"So what have I missed? Anything major?" she hesitated for a brief moment,

"Eggman's been busy, GUN is tracking the portals that Mephiles uses, Dawn has been helping us all out, she's surprisingly tough…Shadow's been training her and taking her out on missions, she's pretty good…" I wasn't impressed, Dawn knew how I felt about putting herself blindly in danger, Rouge must have spotted my disapproval,

"Nick, in all honesty, I think she has a thing for Shadow…that whole bad boy thing…he has been really good with her…after you well…you know." I planned to respond but was interrupted by a large energy bolt exploding next to us, I jumped to my feet and looked for the source, I saw a black hedgehog on a roof nearby, his spines were long and combed down with red, purple and silver streaks through them, his eyes were blood red, I saw inhibitor rings on his wrists similar to Shadow's he was staring directly at Rouge smirking, he sounded over confident,

"So, you're the one my master wants brought in? The emerald thief." he leapt down and landed gracefully on the street, he started walking towards her laughing,

"I will bring you to the Doctor…and he will reward me…" I stood in front of Rouge, he stopped in his tracks,

"You want her? You go through me…" he growled, I stared back at him, I could see shadows around him, it could be Mephiles in disguise or a servant it didn't matter, I would stop him…

_Dawn:_I was walking through the streets with Shadow, I had asked him to come out with me since Nick had left with Rouge,

"So…what do you think of those two?" Shadow looked at me confused,

"I'm not sure what you mean…your brother's strength seems equal to my own and Rouge is…" I had to laugh, he looked even more confused,

"Shadow…I mean, do you think those two are…you know, more than friends?" Shadow's ear twitched slightly and he thought for a moment,

"They haven't really known each other well enough have they? The first time they met was…during our dispute, yet she pushed him aside and took one of Mephiles' attacks for him. Perhaps they will…get to that level but…" he was interrupted by a loud explosion in the centre of town, Shadow immediately clenched his fists,

"Come on…lets see what's going on." he ran off towards it, I sighed and followed behind him. When we reached the plaza I saw Rouge standing in an alley watching Nick fighting with another hedgehog, Shadow stood next to Rouge,

"What happened? Who is this new hedgehog?" Rouge whispered something in Shadow's ear, his face turned to horror,

"It can't be…" I took his hand and held it, he looked at me as Nick landed hard against the ground in front of us groaning, the strange hedgehog fired several bolts, only to have them impact against a shield cast by Nick, he got back to his feet,

"As much as I hate to admit it….might need a bit of help. I'm out of practice." Shadow smirked and let go of my hand,

"I'll be back after I deal with this fool…" both Nick and Shadow walked towards the hedgehog…

_Nick:_

Shadow joined me in the fight, I had ignored the fact he was holding Dawn's hand, I had more important things to worry about, Shadow used Chaos Control and appeared behind our opponent kicking him towards me, I swung a hard punch which staggered him, Shadow kicked his legs away from him and brought his boot down on the hedgehogs gut, I kicked his head, both Shadow and me were suddenly thrown aside, as he got to his feet again,

"You are nothing as to me! I was created as the Ultimate…." he had no chance to finish his sentence as Dawn fired a beam of energy at him at the same time Sonic had arrived and spindashed into him, Shadow and I got up and walked to where the hedgehog was now lying smouldering, Sonic skidded to a halt next to us,

"What's all this ruckus? Can't a guy get any sleep around here? Oh…your awake!" I smiled and saw Dawn run over,

"Good job guys that was…ughh…" she had stopped mid sentence as blood trickled from her mouth, she looked down, as I followed her gaze I saw a spear made of pure shadow, I looked around frantically for any other attackers, then I saw Mephiles standing laughing, I didn't hesitate and ran straight for him, leaving a cloud of dust behind me, Mephiles vanished into a shadow engulfed alleyway, I didn't stop, I just chased him, as I entered the alley I saw a cloud of shadow engulf me, unable to see I could only try to fight, hearing his laughter enraged me, everything around me was black until I grabbed the amulet and there was a flash of blinding light.

Suddenly I was falling downwards towards a ruined city, I landed on a rooftop, I saw Mephiles, in his true form, a giant dragon made of pure shadow with several blood red eyes staring out at me, I could hear his laughter all around, the entire world I stood in was then engulfed in flame and his shadows,

"Now…You stand in my realm! You have no power here….you have nothing! No allies to save you! No light to protect you! It is only you, against the power of a **God!**" I readied as many spells as I could muster and fired every one of them at him, I kept firing until he took his hedgehog form and knocked me aside, I skidded and flipped back to my feet, immediately charging and engaging him again, I had no illusions of victory, I just wanted to do as much damage as I could to him before he killed me,

I jumped aside as he fired a shadow beam, using the opportunity to knock him onto the ground, I leapt up and fired several spells towards him, he disappeared, I landed again and immediately him appear in front of me laughing, my amulet glowed as I heard my mother's voice in my mind,

"_Son…Mephiles has corrupted your mind…You must not lose to him…if you defeat him, you must use the amulet to seal him again!"_ It wasn't about sealing him any more, I wanted him destroyed, but now I knew where we were not in his realm. Mephiles stood, as if waiting for me to attack him,

"Why kill Dawn? I thought you had to absorb her power…" Mephiles stared back at me, his voice cold and emotionless

"I will be absorbing her power as soon as she finally dies and I kill you…Don't worry…I'll be sure to torture both of your souls forever!" he charged, I spotted a Chaos Emerald in his hand, I leapt up and kicked him back, when he staggered I kicked his legs away from him and slammed him down then grabbed the emerald,

"CHAOS CONTROL!" the shadows engulfing the city immediately faded, Mephiles backed off from me as I clutched my amulet, sealing him in the amulet wouldn't work, not permanently I knew that now,

"How…its not possible!" I focused all of my power, and all of the emerald's power into the amulet, a beam of pure light engulfed him, he reverted to a cloud of shadow roaring with rage as he was pulled towards the light, my mother appeared beside me with tears in her eyes,

"What are you doing? Your sealing him inside….you…not the amulet! Why?" I could feel the taint already,

"I know what im doing! Just…tell me how I control it, or at least how I stop him taking control!" She stared blankly at me, tears still running down her face,

"Mephiles will prey on your darker emotions…you, you'll have to avoid extended periods of rage or other extreme negative emotions but…Nick you can't hold him, not forever…he'll drive you insane. If he doesn't someone will trigger your mood…you'd have to…" she stopped, I sighed heavily as she hugged me,

"You'll have to put yourself in exile…the risk is too great of you losing your temper and releasing him…or worse…now that he's part of you, you'll have portions of his power, depending on how well you can control it you could be….very dangerous. You'll be alone…I'm sorry son…" I walked to the edge of the building and looked out at the desolated world, she put her hand on my shoulder as light engulfed me again,

"Do not let him defeat you son. Know that I'm proud of what your doing..."


End file.
